Tonight, my son played in an orchestra concert. They played Beethoven’s 6th, and it was beautiful. Out of the last 14 days, this was night number 12 for being away from home for our son’s music activities. This has not been easy for me. I don’t like being away from the farm animals too much. We cannot leave Bairre and Boudica outside to guard while we are away from home, so the birds are all defenseless. I try not to worry, but I do.
I am so happy to report that, tonight, I am not only celebrating beautiful music in my life, but I am also celebrating the fact that everyone made it. The chickens are all tucked in, and the ducks have had their peas and been put to bed. By the way, Fernando is eating a few little bits of peas. He’s still shy, but he’s making progress.
I feel a kind of relief in my body that I almost can’t explain. I was so happy tonight when I said hello to the baby chickens and collected the eggs (we got 2, which is not bad for this time of year). I pet Rooster, who is actually doing pretty well. He doesn’t like to be pet, but every now and then, I just sneak in some pets.
I am also relieved for my son. He has worked very hard as a cellist the last two weeks. He works pretty hard at it most of the time, but he got his first job and had work on top of his normal work. He played in an orchestra pit for a musical, and the last show was last night. He has had many nights of long rehearsals, but it turned out to be a great experience for him–plus the musical was fantastic. I watched it three times and loved it every time. Then, tonight, the youth orchestra he is in played Beethoven. It’s a challenging piece for students, but most of the kiddos in this orchestra are pretty strong musicians. I am in awe of them. I am still taking cello lessons and have an even greater admiration for string players than I had before–and I already had a great admiration.
I am exhausted in a way I haven’t been in a long time. I told Ron I think even my cells feel tired. But I am grateful for the music and for these opportunities for our son. I am extra grateful that it all went well for him and that all of our ducks and chickens are okay.
Oh, and we definitely have an opossum living in the chicken yard! Opossums generally do not harm chickens, but they have done it. I’ll have to write about this tomorrow. It’s both a worry and quite fascinating at the same time.
photo credit: Lucas Alexander, Unsplash
